


Christmas Lights

by Ryface



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Christmas, F/F, Fluff, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2012-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-22 09:26:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/608302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryface/pseuds/Ryface
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the floor in the middle of the room, there was a heaping pile of tangled Christmas lights, and caught up in them was Artemis, her hair pulled into a messy ponytail with what looked like tinsel holding it in place. But she looked anything <i>but</i> jolly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Lights

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas, Young Justice fandom!   
> This is my first time really writing Artemis or Zatanna to any great extent, I hope I did them justice. Pun intended.

Zatanna sighed as she made her way up the stairs. The elevator in her apartment was broken again, and she couldn't keep using her magic to fix it. The repairman was starting to get suspicious about something, even if he didn't know what. And of course she'd had to go out, Batman had naturally called a meeting at the Watchtower on Christmas Eve, when all she wanted to do was be at home. Home, and definitely not sitting across from the body of her father, trapped inside Fate's helmet.  
  
She sighed again, pushing the thought from her mind. No use dwelling on it on a day that was supposed to be happy. She paused in the stairwell to look around. She still had seven flights to go, and no one was around.  
  
"Ekam siht rood nepo ot eht htflewt roolf tsuj ecno," she whispered. A soft glow of light from around the door frame, and sure enough, when she opened it she was on her floor. Better than an elevator.  
  
When she unlocked her door, she was immediately greeted with a string of particularly colorful Vietnamese curse words from the living room. Raising an eyebrow, she whispered "Tnelis spets," under her breath to mask the click of her heels across the hardwood floor of the hallway, and peered into the living room.  
  
In the corner there was a small tree -- a real one, if the fresh, clean scent of pine was any indication. It was leaned crookedly against the wall, still undecorated and not even in a stand yet. On the floor in the middle of the room, there was a heaping pile of tangled Christmas lights, and caught up in them was Artemis, her hair pulled into a messy ponytail with what looked like tinsel holding it in place. But she looked anything but jolly.  
  
"Stupid lights, how did you even get so tangled, all I did was take you out of the box!" she cried, throwing the strands she was holding to the ground and reaching for another one to try her luck with.  
  
Zatanna stifled a giggle. "Need a hand?" she said, coming around the corner and into full view of the living room. There were a few brightly colored bags she hadn't seen, wrapping paper and more decorations spilling out of them and onto her couch and armchair.  
  
"Zatanna!" Artemis all but jumped out of her skin and glittery Christmas sweater. "You're home early."  
  
"Called in a favor with Dick to get him to call Bats out of the meeting," she said, unwinding her scarf and draping it and her jacket across the back of the couch. "What's all this?"  
  
"It was supposed to be a surprise," Artemis muttered. "I know we haven't really had a real Christmas together. Last year there was that thing with Clock King I had to go help Ollie and Dinah with..."  
  
"And the year before that, the Royal Flush Gang pulled that thing," Zatanna added, going around the sofa to join Artemis in the sea of tangled lights. "I'm still not sure how they thought they were pulling off that awful "Christmas Cards" pun."  
  
"Right? They're a clubs flush, too, so having a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer get up on their Ace android just seemed out of place," Artemis laughed.  
  
"The black antlers were a nice touch, though," said Zatanna. "Until Superman ripped them off and smacked him across the face with them."  
  
"Pretty sure that's the only android that's ever been destroyed by holiday cheer," Artemis said, still laughing.  
  
"But hey," said Zatanna, "Batman says it's looking to be a quiet Christmas this year. All the dangerous psychopaths are either singing in the Belle Reve Delinquents Christmas Choir, or home with their families this year."  
  
"Speaking of which, my sister called." Artemis leaned back against the couch. "I'm not sure if she was wishing us a Merry Christmas, threatening to assassinate the mayor of New York, insinuating weird things about her sex life with Roy, or all of the above." She made a face.  
  
"Let's just assume it was the first, and have a quiet night at home."  
  
"That's what I was planning on."  
  
"Hmmm," said Zatanna, giving Artemis a studying look.  
  
"What?" Artemis looked confused. "Is there something on my face?"  
  
"No," said Zatanna, smiling softly. "Something above it. Eoteltsim."  
  
A sprig of mistletoe appeared, hovering in mid air above Artemis's head. She looked up at it and grinned.  
  
"You know you really don't need the excuse," she said.  
  
"I know," said Zatanna, leaning forward. "But it's festive."  
  
Their lips met in a soft kiss at first, but things heated up quickly. Zatanna's concentration didn't last long, and the mistletoe blinked out of existence again.  
  
When they parted, Artemis was flushed across her cheeks.  
  
"I still want to finish putting up decorations," she said. "Even if I'm apparently awful at it."  
  
"Everyone's awful at Christmas lights," Zatanna assured her.  
  
"I wouldn't really know." Artemis shrugged a little stiffly. "My family was never big on celebrating together."  
  
Zatanna smiled softly and stole a quick kiss. "Want to cheat at it?"  
  
Artemis's expression softened. "If it means I don't have to test every light bulb on this strand, yes."  
  
"Tel ehere eb sthgil, dna kced ruo sllahs hitw samtsirhc reehc!"  
  
The lights sprung to life, floating quickly through the air as they elegantly decorated the border of the living room walls. The tree jumped up, placed itself in its stand, and its branches settled neatly with ornaments flying from the bags in the armchair to decorate them. Wrapped presents zoomed down the hall from their places, hidden in the bedroom closet, and tucked themselves neatly under the tree. The room's overhead light shut off as the decorations settled into place, and the whole room was suddenly lit with the brilliance of hundreds of shining lights.  
  
"Wow," Artemis breathed more than she said, taking in the display before them, her eyes sparkling in the low lights.  
  
"Merry Christmas, Artemis," said Zatanna, softly.  
  
"Merry Christmas, Zee."  
  
This time, they didn't bother with mistletoe.


End file.
